HB-1257 was established to support Washington State’s “net zero” 2050 carbon emissions goal. HB-1257 gave the Dept of Commerce authority to develop and implement energy performance standards for non-residential buildings larger than 50,000 sf in floor area—both public and privately-owned.

All building owners, managers, and facility personnel responsible for their building’s compliance with the WA State Clean Buildings Standard.

Many buildings will need several years of dedicated improvements to comply with the new law by the deadline(s). Compliance will be determined by a Building’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for its building type. The EUI framework measures energy consumed per square foot of conditioned space, specific to a building’s use and the climate in the area.

But while EUI is a simple concept, the details are complex. Having an Energy Partner like Holaday-Parks can help you navigate the process to ensure your compliance measures are on track and on time.

If building owners choose to get ahead of their compliance deadline many will qualify for Early-Adoption Incentives. The limited pool of $75 million dollars will be allocated rapidly to early adopters on a first-come, first-serve basis. The incentive for individual buildings is $0.85 per square foot and is additional to other energy efficiency incentives through utilities and any grants your building may also be eligible to receive.

That means that for a 220,000 sf building, you could supplement your progress to your EUI with $187,000 of grant funds — just for acting quickly to upgrade your building to meet compliance.

To reserve your share, let us benchmark your building’s EUI now. Your benchmark will determine your next steps and we can help you build a strong application to submit for Early Adoption Incentive funds.

There are real penalties for non-compliance up to $5,000 annually plus a daily fine of up to $1 per year, per square foot.

Building Managers have three choices for when to tackle what may be significant work to meet compliance:

1. Act now and receive early-adopter incentives.
2. Comply on the due date with no incentives.
3. Do not comply and face penalties.

Regardless of the option you choose—here are the steps you will need to take:
1. Contact Holaday-Parks and designate us as your Energy Manager.
2. We will get you connected to the Energy Star Portfolio Manager (or you if you already have an ID— share it with our team).
3. We will benchmark your building.
4. We will match your Energy Use Intensity (EUI) with the mandated CBPS for your building type and end uses.
5. We will create an Energy Management Plan for your building(s).
6. We will work with you to implement an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Program for your building(s).
7. We’re in this for the long-haul and we will track energy performance over a 12-month period and work closely with you to make any improvements.

We have a team of certified energy management and commissioning experts that can guide you through the required audit, improvements, and verifications so you can capture maximum incentives and funding. The Clean Buildings Standard has many checkpoints and we will help you navigate through them.